JIG

The 'jig' (Irish: port) is a folk dance type as well as the accompanying dance tune type, popular in Ireland. It is sometimes seen in its French or Italian forms, ''gigue'' or ''giga'', but these are more usually used for the baroque dance forms
The "Irish Jig" is a popular tune-type within the traditions of Irish dance music, second only to the reel, and popular but somewhat less common in Scottish country dance music. It is transcribed in compound meter. "Double jigs" are always transcribed in 6/8; "slip jigs" are always written in 9/8. "Single jigs" are most commonly transcribed in 6/8, but sometimes also in 12/8. "Slides" are transcribed in both 12/8 and 6/8.^[1]
Probably the most well-known jig is the double jig, The Irish Washerwoman.
This ditty was spoofed in a Spike Jones rendition of, of all things, the Blue Danube Waltz. After it is made clear that the Danube is not blue but rather green, a singer renders these lyrics in an Irish brogue:
"Oh, the Danube is green as the grass in the spring

It's as green as the dollar you spent on a fling

It's as green as the paint that you put on the screen

It's as blue as, --the Danube is greener than green!"

The most common structure is two eight-bar parts, each of which is repeated (AABB). There are a number of tunes with three or more parts, and some in which the length of one or more parts varies from eight bars. As with most other types of dance tunes in Irish music, at a session or a dance it is common for two or more jigs to be strung together, flowing on without interruption.
In Cotswold morris, a jig is a dance performed by a single dancer, or sometimes two. Its music is not usually a jig in the sense given above.

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See also

References

1. irishtune.info Rhythm Definitions Alan Ng

See also

★ List of Scottish country dances